Te Aika is the name of te ngutu, the entranceway that marks the spiritual boundary for visitors during formal cultural ceremonies.
Designed by two South Island artists, Rachael Rakena and Simon Kaan, Te Aika is a Ngāi Tahu version of te ahi kā, meaning ‘the home people – keep the home fires burning’.
Te ngutu expresses the mana (respect), whakapapa (genealogy), manaakitanga (hospitality) and ture wairua (spiritual mission) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Ngāi Tahu, as mana whenua (indigenous people of the area) exerting their authority and extending a welcome to manuhiri (visitors) to Te Pae Christchurch.
Te Aika reflects the distinctive maihi (diagonal bargeboards) commonly used on the ancestral houses of local hapū, Ngāi Tūāhuriri. The white exterior of the structure also resembles the kōtuku (the white heron), a bird of good omen whose shape also recalls the flight of visitors to gather at Te Pae Christchurch.
The white edges of the intertwining ribbons signify Te Ao Mārama (a Māori concept relating to wisdom and understanding, and the natural world of life and light), while the weaving pattern is a tribute to Ngāi Tūāhuriri wahine (women) and reflects a feather cloak, a symbol of welcome, warmth, mana (respect) and protection
